


Double Trouble

by Bees_in_a_davidbowie_shirt



Category: Cats - Andrew Lloyd Webber, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - T. S. Eliot
Genre: Babysitting, Domestic Fluff, Family, Fluff, Kitten-Sitting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:08:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24772918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bees_in_a_davidbowie_shirt/pseuds/Bees_in_a_davidbowie_shirt
Summary: The Rum Tum Tugger volunteers to watch his friends kittens at his human house. No, they are not his kittens, why does everyone think that??
Relationships: Bombalurina & Rum Tum Tugger (Cats), Mr Mistoffelees & Bombalurina, Mr. Mistoffelees & Rum Tum Tugger (Cats), Mr. Mistoffelees/Rum Tum Tugger (Cats), Yea its shippy lol
Comments: 18
Kudos: 67





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> hi! i decided to start posting this because im i m p a t i e n t  
> anyways heres a new long fic, where tugger babysits some kits that are 100 percent ocs based on my sister and brother and the mother is totally not based on my mom :,]  
> ANYWAYS i was going to wait intill i finished this to post but uhhh oh wel  
> updates will be sporatic but wont take longer than a week to update  
> the story is 7 chapters bcuz each chapter is supposed to be one 'day' where he babysits them

**Prologue**

The alleyway was, seemingly, empty. However, if you knew where to look, you would see in a small, dark corner, hidden behind some junk, was a mother and her two children. 

Not human children, of course! If you looked back here in hopes of finding humans, you would be very disappointed. But, if you're cat-size, so a cat, then you might just smell another cat, and find another cat, specifically a mother cat with her two little she-kits.

That is what The Rum Tum Tugger was currently doing. 

These cats that he was sniffing out were street cats, and the mother was an old friend of his. They didn't have a home, or didn't want a home; either way, they lived in this alleyway.

For a short period of time, the rockstar cat of the Junkyard, Tugger, had lived as a street cat. He had been too stubborn to show up at his father's house, or his brother's house, or even to sleep overnight in his den at the Junkyard, and had lived on the streets for almost half a year before a nice family with little kids that adored him had taken him in. During that time, Tugger had met a lot of other cats, all of whom were very nice, and he had continued to come and talk to them and help them out when he wasn't at the Junkyard with the other Jellicles or in his human home.

This mother, a Queen named Brise, had been in a perfectly happy relationship when Tugger had first met her, and had just gotten pregnant with her first litter of kits when the tom had been taken in. It had only taken several visits back to where the street cats lived for Tugger to realize that there was something going bad in her seemingly happy relationship with the other tom, and then he had left after the kits had been born.

The kittens were now a year old. As previously mentioned, they were both she-kits, one named Maria and the other named Cleo. While Cleo was excitable, always jumping onto Tugger mane, Maria was more quiet. The two looked almost exactly alike, though, and both adored spending time with ‘Uncle Tugger’.

Tugger squeezed his large body under the pile of trash that housed Brise and the kits. The family was on the smaller side, partially from being underfed and partially because of the breed they were. Because of this, they were able to live in this small space that Tugger could barely fit into!

When he finally emerged on the other side, he found himself face-to-face with Brise. The small Queen looked surprised, but she always looked either surprised or scared. Tugger simply gave her a smile.

“Oh, thank the Everlasting Cat that you came!” She fretted. “Ah, the girls just finished cleaning their corners, and they are going to bring one thing with them. I don't want them upsetting your humans.” Brise shoved her face closer to Tuggers, or at least as close as her face could get seeing as she's over a head shorter than him. “Are you sure that this is okay?”

“Relax!” Tugger purred in response. “I told you already, my humans are on vacation this week. They will be gone by the time I walk the kittens back to the house. Dont even worry about the house, just know that your kits will be safe.”

She sighed. “Okay. I know where you live, I can come pick up the kits at the end of the week, and then I will show you the new den! Just don't tell them yet, okay? I don't want them to worry about any of their things.”

Once again, Tugger purred, this time nuzzling against the Queen, comforting her. “Don't you worry, sweetheart. I know how to keep a secret when it's needed.”

Just then, a loud crash was heard from the other side of the den. Brise jumped up, scurrying over to the closed-off sections that were the kittens ‘rooms’. Tugger could remember when the two had basically demanded that they get a portion of the den sectioned off for themselves, because,  _ We are almost one years old now! We need privacy! We don't want to sleep with our mother anymore! _ Tugger mostly remembered this because, being a large maine coon, Brise had asked him to help move things around, worried about her daughters hating her if she didn't give them a room.

As Brise entered the section, Cleo came scrambling out, her little paws pattering on the floor. She skidded to a stop right before Tugger, looked up at him, and then a large smile grew on her face. 

“Maria! Maria!” She shrieked, jumping up and down. “Tuggers here! Tuggers here!”

Out of their little rooms slunk Maria. Just like her mother, she always seemed scared, but unlike her mother, she kept it bottled up inside her. Where Brise would mutter to herself, Maria just looked more and more constipated for every minute that she was worried about something.

Tugger opened up his arms. “Come here girls, give me a hug!” 

The one thing that the two shared was their love for Tugger, and they both quickly threw themselves into his arms, burying their heads in his mane.

“Aw, girls!” He purred playfully. “Are you ready to have a sleepover?”

Cleos head shot out of his mane, and she basically screamed in his face, 

“Yes! Yes!”

Maria kept her face buried in his fur, but he could feel her head nodding. Her arms were wrapped tightly around his neck.

“Well, go get whatever you need, and say goodbye to your mom so we can head off!”

Still excitable as always, Cleo launched herself out of his arms, carefully dodging everything as she ran back into her little room. Tugger was surprised that she didn't crash into anything.

On the other end of the spectrum, Maria let herself be lowered out of the towering toms arms and onto the ground. She slunk into the room to do exactly the same thing as Cleo.

Their mother picked her way out into the area that Tugger was waiting, and gave him a hug.

“Thank you so much, Rum Tum Tugger. I know I can trust you to keep my girls safe while I work on finding us a better place. I don't know what I would do without you!”

Tuggers tail rose with pride, and he smiled. “Aw, thank you Bri! You're a strong Queen, and I know you will find a better place for the kittens and yourself. If you can't find a place, then you're welcome to stay with me for as long as you need, the Jellicles might even let you stay in the Junkyard for a bit.”

“What's the Junkyard?” rang a curious voice from behind Brise.

The Queen turned around, greeted by the sight of Maria and Cleo sitting there, looking at the two in wonder.

“You know what the Junkyard is! I've told you about it!” Said Tugger. “Remember? It's where I live when I’m not with my humans.”

Maria climbed into his arms and asked, in a quiet voice, “Are we going to the Junkyard?”

Tugger shook his head. “No, sweetheart, not this time. Maybe when you're older,” Brise gave him a mother's glare, and he quickly added, “ _ If _ your mom lets you.”

Brise sighed. “Well, girls, are you ready to leave with Tugger?”

Once again, Cleo yelled in excitement, while Maria stayed silent.

“Hah, let's get going then! Say goodbye to your mom!”

They yelled goodbye as Tugger squeezed through the dens entrance with the girls in his arms.


	2. Day 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'huh i should probabily update that self indulgent oc fic'

About halfway to Tugger's human house, Cleo had demanded to be let out his arms so that she could explore all the new scents on the sidewalk. So far, she hadn't wandered off, but it was taking a bit longer to get home then it would have if Tugger had carried both the kits. 

Luckily, Maria didn't want to get put down. Tugger would almost assume that she was asleep, but he could feel her head shifting as she tried to subtly look around.

The streets in the neighborhood they were currently in were not busy at all, because they were just a few blocks from Tuggers human home. It was a weekday, and normally kids would be at school, but Tuggers humans had suddenly packed bags a few days ago and said how they would leave on this day right after lunch. 

Tugger had no idea where they were headed off to, but there was a calendar in the house that marked off the days that they were gone and circled the day that they would come back, so he knew when he would be alone.

His original plan had been to go out and about. He would go to some clubs, sing a few songs, pick up some Queens, Toms, or even both at once, and have a good time overall. The cats from the Junkyard wouldn't find it strange, Tugger was known to vanish for multiple days at a time.

Then, the day after the humans had begun packing and marked the days on their calendar, Tugger had gone to visit his old street-cat friends. Brises had been the last one he had visited, and she had offhandedly mentioned needing to find a new den for the cold weather, and he had offhandedly mentioned the absence of his humans, one thing had led to another, and here they were.

Tugger could see his human's house down the street. It looked like every other house, except both the cars that were usually parked next to it were gone, confirming that they had left.

“What's that?” Asked Cleo from behind Tugger, and he quickly turned to make sure she wasnt getting in trouble. Marias grip on him tightened.

Cleo was pointing at the large fence that one of the neighbors had erected a while back. Sometimes, Tugger would hear a Pollicle Dog barking on the other side.

“Ah, that's just a fence. It's to keep us all safe from the Pollicle inside, so that it doesnt come and try to eat you!” He pretended to growl at the kit.

She giggled, but the other kit whimpered a bit. He quickly reached his paw up to rup her back.

“We’re almost there, girls!”

It didn't take much longer for them to reach the house. Tugger led the girls around to the backyard.

The back door has a large cat door at the bottom of it. They had quickly figured out how indecisive the cat was, always wanting in and out of the house, and installed a cat door so that he wouldn't be meowing at them all the time. He still constantly meows at them, it was just his personality, but now he could get in and out of the house freely whenever he wanted.

He easily pushed it opened, then held it for Cleo.

The door was made for a large cat, specifically a Maine Coon like himself, and a Singapura cat would not be able to easily push it open, much less a Singapura kitten. 

The inside of the house was big to Tugger, but he couldn't even imagine how giant everything looked to both the kits.

He lowered Maria to the ground again, letting her awe at the room. She looked around at everything in wonder, and then back at the cat door they had just come through.

Cleo, as expected, had already begun climbing on everything. This must have been a hard task for the tiny kitten, and she had only managed to climb onto a few books that the human kits had left on the ground.

She stood proudly on all four paws. Neither Cleo nor Maria were old enough to confidently walk on two paws yet, like most of the kittens at the Junkyard knew how to do. They could stand there, they could practice, but neither of them would probability try and run around on only two. They would have to wait until they were just a little bit older for that.

But these two kits that he was babysitting were kits, and he had to remember that, and keep them safe! They couldn't go breaking anything, falling from anything, eating random things, all that junk.

And there it came; the crash from another room.

While Tugger had been thinking and plotting to himself about keeping the kits safe, they had both vanished from the room. The crash was, obviously, caused by one of the two kits, as there were no other animals in the house that could have caused it.

Quickly, Tugger raced over to where he had heard the noise.

On the kitchen counter sat both Cleo and Maria. They stared over the edge at the mess that had been created, not even noticing when Tugger entered the room.

On the tiles of the kitchen floor were the shattered remains of a beautiful looking bowl. The bowl most likely was sitting on the counter after the humans rushed lunch, one of the human kits had probably forgotten to put it away.

If it had been any other bowl, Tugger wouldn't have minded, but he had seen the human mother taking careful care of this bowl many times, and scolding him when he got too close to it. Tugger might be a troublemaker, always doing what he's told not to, but he knows when enough is enough, and breaking his human's favorite bowl was a sure way to end up a street cat again.

Here the bowl was, shattered on the ground. The bowl was decorated with flowers, and a name that Tugger couldn't read was carved into the bottom. Now, the flowers lay all over the floor, scattered as if the tiles were a field.

The biggest threat in this situation, however, was not the broken bowl of the possibility of becoming homeless again, but the kittens on the counter.

Both of them looked like they wanted to cry. They obviously hadn't meant to knock over the bowl, and were very sorry that they had.

Tugger sighed.

“How did you two get up there?”

His only reply was Cleo, shaking her head.

Instead of asking anymore questions, which would probably lead to some sobbing kits that he did not want to or know how to handle, he proceeded to sweep up the shards with his tail, moving them out of the way. When they were moved, he positioned himself a decent distance away from the kitchen counter, holding out his arms.

“Which one of you wants to jump first?” He called up.

To Tugger's surprise, Maria edged to the lip of the counter and launched herself off and into his arms, not letting go of his mane until she felt her paws touch the ground. Cleo followed as soon as he was facing the counter again, catching him a little off guard.

When both the girls were off of the counter he turned to them.

“What happened back there?”

The answer was delivered by Marias quiet meow.

“We just wanted to see what was going on, we didn't mean to knock anything over!”

“Yeah yeah yeah!” Cleo frantically chimed in. “It's an adventure, you see? And if there's an adventure, then we gotta do it! We just wanted to look inside the pretty container, we didn't know it would break!” The little kit gave her the best kitten eyes. “Are you mad at us Uncle Tugger?

“Oh, of course not!” He responded. He could never be actually mad at a kit, they didn't know any better, and these kits had never seen anything like this before.

He was, however, worried and concerned, which are two emotions that The Rum Tum Tugger rarely expresses. These two had barely been here for ten minutes, and they had already caused trouble? How was he going to handle them for the next few days? Maybe it would be better if he went and got Brise, letting her stay with the kits in his home while he went and looked for her new den. Or he could invite a more responsible cat, like his brother, over to watch them.

No, he couldn't. He had promised Brise that he would watch these kits, and The Rum Tum Tugger could do that. He never turned back after saying he would do it, that's just how the cat was! Tugger could be responsible! And Munkustrap was in charge of the Jellicles, busy protecting them from intruders. He wouldn't have time to come and kit-sit!

There was a pull on Tuggers mane. 

“Uncle Tugger? Are you okay?”

Tugger quickly shook himself out of his thoughts, and put on his  _ calm  _ and _ cool _ face and voice. 

“Of course, sweetheart!” He purred. “Now, would you like to figure out where to sleep?”

Cleo looked confused.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, you'll have to see!” He replied, setting a paw on each of the kits backs to lead them down the hallway.

He pushed open the first door he saw, which was the human she-kits room.

The room was decorated with bright pink colors, and fluffy blankets were thrown all over the bed and floor. Drawers were pulled open, clothing strewn around the room and hanging off the side of the dressers. She had probability been looking for something before the family had left.

A large mirror, one of Tugger's favorite things about the girls room, was hung above the messy bureau drawer, which had a chair partially shoved under it. He used the chair, jumping up from it onto the vanity, and taking a minute to admire himself in the mirror before turning back around. 

“One of your options is this lovely room! The human kit who lives here has lots of fluffy blankets and pillows for you to sleep on.”

Both the kits just stared at him in confusion.

“What does fluffy mean?” Asked Maria.

Tugger leapt off the drawers easily. 

“Well, why don't you come feel these and find out for yourself?” He replied, holding up the corner of a brightly colored blanket.

Cleo pushed her sister out of the way and grabbed the blanket out of Tuggers paws, sinking her sharp claws into the material. 

“ _ Wow!”  _ She gasped. “Maria, come feel! Come feel!”

Maria, much more calmly than her sister, came up and took a piece gently in her paws. The little kit didn't say anything, but Tugger could see how big her eyes got. The kits had probability never felt something like this, and it made Tugger happy to see them experiencing this for the first time.

“Well? What do you think? If you don't want to sleep here, we can look in the other room.”

_ “There's more than one room!”  _ Shrieked Cleo, jumping up and down on her paws. Poor Maria covered her ears. Tugger smiled a bit.

“Right this way, ladies!”

He led the kits to the room across the hall. 

This room was where the human tom-kit slept and played. The bed in this room was a little bit smaller than the one in the other room, but from what Tugger could tell, the human tom-kit was younger than the human she-kit. Beds seemed to have different sizes depending on how old you were. When Tugger had first been taken in, the human tom-kit had had a bed that was even smaller than the one he had now, although the shed-kit's bed size hasn't changed at all. The human parents, the Queen and Tom of the house, shared one large bed, so Tugger had to assume they were very old.

The bed was neatly made, and the only thing that seemed out of place was the open drawer. Tugger, however, knew that it was always left open because he occasionally slept in it. It made him happy to know that the human had thought of him, and he puffed up his tail a bit with pride.

“This here,” He said, turning to the girls, “Is the tom-kits room. He has a nice drawer that I sleep in sometimes, or you can hop up onto the bed. There's not as much stuff on the floor, which is nice.”

By the time he finished talking, Cleo was already attempting to climb into the drawer.

He purred in amusement, and went over to give the small kitten a boost.

“What do you think?”

Cleo responded in a muffled meow, “Very deep! How do I get out?”

“Oh shi-  _ shoot. _ Hold on, I’ll get you.”

It was a good thing that Tugger was an adult cat, and a tall one at that, because he didn't even have to climb into the drawer to get the little kit. All he had to do was stand on his tip-toes and reach his arm in, she grabbed onto him tightly as he pulled her out.

At last, the little kit was safely on the ground again. Tugger stood back, paws on his belt, and observed the two.

“So, you guys know where you want to sleep?”

“Yeah yeah yeah!” Chanted Cleo, while Maria just nodded.

“Great!” He replied, already headed towards the hallway.

“But.. Uncle Tugger? What do we eat?” Asked quiet Maria.

“What do you mean?” He replied, slightly confused.

She shifted nervously from paw to paw.

“Well, I don't smell any mice or rats or even bunnies around here, and there's something blocking the fish that I saw so we can't eat those. Are you gonna starve us?”

Tugger bent down until he was level with the anxious kit.

“My humans leave food out for me. I have bowls of this weird brown stuff, I have cans of tuna, or we can go outside and hunt. Whichever you want!”

The little kit's eyes widened. 

“...Whatever we want? Really?”

He nodded, smiling. “Really! What do you want to eat tonight?”

Cleo jumped up and down before her sister could answer. 

“Tuna! I want tuna!”

“Well, Maria? How does Tuna sound?”

She nodded in agreement.

“Great! You two can go wait in the kitchen, just stay away from the broken bowl. I don't want you to get hurt!”

Both the kittens nodded, and they scurried off in one direction while Tugger went the other.

The humans didn't think he knew this, but Tugger knew where the tuna was kept. They ‘hid’ it in these tiny cans that you could easily poke a claw through , and those tiny cans were kept on a high shelf in their bathroom, along with a litter box that Tugger made a habit of never using because it was just humiliating. 

The bathroom had a closet door. There was what the humans called a handle on it, but the handle was broken or something, for Tugger could just reach a paw under the door, pull, and it opened up. From there, it wasn't hard to jump up the shelves and knock down three cans of tuna.

They fell to the floor with a clang, and he jumped down after, making sure not to land on them.

From there, all he had to do was carry them over to the kitchen where the girls were waiting!

“Ladies,” He purred, setting down the cans. “Dinner is served!”

Little Maria inched her way up to one of the cans. 

“But, Uncle Tugger, this doesn't look like it could be eaten...”

He chuckled.

“Ah, but you haven't seen the magic happen yet!” Tugger responded, and then extended a few claws, poking them through the tin of the can. He dragged the claw along the rim, just as he had seen the humans do with their fancy fake-claw. Humans obviously weren't as blessed as cats, and had to mimic a lot of their natural assets, like claws.

He set the can down and started working on the other two cans as the kittens watched in amazement.

When it was all finished, he brought the small tin up to his face, and began to eat right out of it. Maria copied him, heaving with her tiny arms to bring the can up to her face. The other kid just leaned down to give the food a tentative taste, before gasping in amazement and digging in.

They finished in record time.

“Now, kits, why don't you go to where you want to sleep while I clean up? We all have to sleep well so that we can be ready to explore tomorrow.”

A mix of both energized and tired, the she-kits jumped up and stumbled out of the room. 

Tugger grabbed the cans, making sure not to nick himself on the sharp edges, and tossed them out the window. He had done this a number of times before, and knew that there was a large container that was kept outside specifically for the humans' trash. Sure, The Rum Tum Tugger will do as he does, but he does enjoy having a clean living space!

He slowly wandered down the hallway, peaking into the areas that he had shown the girls, trying to find them. Eventually, he saw their tails peeking out from the blankets in the human she-kits room. He smiled at the sight.

“Goodnight, ladies,” purred Tugger.

The response was quiet, most likely from Maria. Cleo seemed to be the type to pass out as soon as her head hit the pillow.

“‘Night ‘night, Uncle Tugger.”


	3. Day 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> n i ce

The sun hasn't risen yet, and Tugger knew that because it would generally shine right through the window into the drawer that he slept in. So that meant that he was being woken up by someone. Was it one of the humans? Maybe something was wrong- oh, nevermind, they were gone.

So who would be waking him up so early?

“Uncle Tugger?”

_ One of the girls. _

Quickly, he got up and peaked over the edge of the drawer.

“What is it?”

Maria sat on the other side, looking concerned.

“Uncle Tugger, where's the bathroom?”

\--

This time, Tugger was woken by the sun rising, as he usually was. His brother seems to think he doesnt wake up until noon, because that's when he gets to the Junkyard, but the reality is that the large cat is up as soon as possible. 

When he wakes up, Tugger first stretches. Then, he has to go and look beautiful, which he usually does in the human she-kits room because she cleans her mirror. He was about to go do just that when he remembered that Cleo and Maria were asleep in there, and he didn't want to wake them, so he had to suffer through the dirty bathroom mirror.

Next, the tom went out the cat door, which slammed behind him. Oops. Once outside, it's fairly easy to leave the backyard and find the clump of woods that's nearby.

The human owners who had taken him in always left a full bowl of what they called ‘cat food’, which was just brown pebbles that tasted like nothing. Tugger much preferred to hunt on his own, although he couldn't resist the delicious tuna that they sometimes treated him to.

Luckily, the neighborhood had a ‘community garden’, where everyone would come by and smell the flowers and throw bird seed down. This meant that there were alot of birds that were way too comfortable being on the ground instead of in the air around here, making them an easy catch.

He quickly caught three of them, one for each of the cats, and gobbled down his own before heading back to the humans house.

Tugger laid the two small birds down on the kitchen floor, giving the broken bowl one last longing look. He would have to figure out a way to clean that up soon, he didn't want anyone to forget about it and get hurt.

He meandered on over to the room where Cleo and Maria slept, taking his time. The girls still seemed to be quietly asleep in there, and he didn't want to ruin it too soon. Even Tugger, who has a full-blown fanclub, could appreciate some peace and quiet.

Slowly, Tugger pushed open the door so he could squeeze himself through. Then, he went over to the pile of blankets that the kits had been sleeping on the night before; only to be met by the sight of only one kit. 

Cleo lay peacefully in the pile of blankets. She had been the first to pass out, and it seemed that she would be the last to wake up. Tugger would have happily let her sleep even longer, except for the fact that he had no idea where her sister was, and it was most likely that she would know.

So, with a sigh, he gave the tiny kit a little bit of a nudge. She automatically shot up, looking at him in surprise, before seemingly remembering where she was.

“Oh! Hi!” She said, trying to be cheerful. It was evident that the kit was still half asleep, however much she tried to hide it. 

Tugger got right to his point.

“Do you know where your sister went?”

Cleo looked around, mildly surprised. She hadn't even realized that her sister wasn't there. The two generally didn't sleep together, so not being next to her hadn't exactly bothered the girl. 

Some twins that Tugger knew, like Tantomile and Coricopat, had to be near each other almost constantly. If they weren't, then they would feel pain. Some twins, like Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, were partners in crime. They each had their own separate lives, and would go off and do their own things whenever they wanted to. There was no need for them to communicate what was happening, because they weren't as overly attached to each other as some twins were. At the end of the day, they would join together and maybe hunt, steal something, cause some chaos in their humans house, whatever they felt like doing that day.

The one similarity that these two opposite sets of twins shared was the ‘twin connection’. Tantomile and Coricopat were, without doubt, connected through their minds. Everyone could tell they were psychic with just a glance, and they didn't exactly hide their powers. Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer were almost the exact same way, they just made it more chaotic.

Maybe Cleo and Marias ‘twin connection’ has not developed yet, or maybe they were so independent from each other that they didn't have one, or maybe they didn't know how it worked yet, but Tugger could tell that Cleo had absolutely no clue where Maria had gone.

So he shrugged, flicked his tail, and turned away from the kitten.

“Well, lets go sniff her out, shall we?”

As expected, another telltale  _ crash! _ sounded through the house. Once again, as expected, it had come from the kitchen. For what Tugger hoped would be the last time this week, or even day, if he had to lower his expectations, he raced out of the room with the troublesome kitten on his heels.

Tugger had assumed that every crash that had happened had been caused by Cleo, but he wouldn't doubt that Maria had had something to do with them. However, he had never expected the quiet kit to go off and cause trouble on her own, even if it was by accident!

The human kitchen had shards of bowl scattered all over it, but it seemed to be pieces from the same bowl that the kits had knocked over the day before. What would have caused the sound?

He looked up, and there on the counter, was a black and white tuxedo cat, standing next to the small, sleek singapura kitten. The two were staring at each other, one in confusion and the other in shock. 

The tuxedo cat was a Jellicle named Mr. Mistoffelees. He was a magic cat, and one of Tugger's closest friends. In fact, Tugger had almost forgotten that the magic cat made visits to his house every now and then!

Mistoffelees stood there, looking at poor Maria in surprise, before finally looking towards The Rum Tum Tugger. He would probability be asking a few questions later.

Suddenly, the shards of bowl on the ground floated into the air, spinning around themselves. They all circled each other, before floating in front of Mistoffelees. With a flick of his tail, and a soft  _ Presto!, _ the bowl was back in one piece. One of the cabinets then opened, and the bowl flew in. 

Everything in the room looked almost normal.

Mr. Mistoffelees jumped down off the counter.

“I have  _ several _ questions.”

\--

Currently, the kittens were playing with a cat toy. Tugger's owners had gone out and bought what seemed like a million of them when they had first adopted the cat, but to their disappointment, he wouldn't play with them!(or, that's what he made them think. What Tugger did when the humans weren't home is none of their business.)

Either way, it entertained the kittens enough that Mistoffelees and Tugger could talk.

The magic cat looked at Tugger, looked back at the kittens, and then back a Tugger again. He tilted his head. He blinked. He squinted. He spoke.

“Who did you knock up?”

Tugger sputtered in surprise.

“What- No one! You know I’m careful with that sort of thing!”

His only response was a smirk.

“Really? I remember you waking me up quite a lot because you were so scared that whoever you were with had gotten pregnant.”

“I would never!” The maine coon said with a shake of his head. “Well, maybe a few times, and you were already awake, so it was fine. Besides, I wasnt  _ that _ scared.”

“Tugger,” Mistoffelees said in a deadpan, “You once woke me saying that you were scared you had knocked up a partner. I asked you, what's their name? You know what you said?”

There was no response. Mistoffelees got closer to Tugger's face.

“You gave me the name of a  _ tom. _ A tom, Tugger! You can't get another tom pregnant!”

He threw his arms up in the air, before dropping the back at his side. The Rum Tum Tugger simply crossed his arms.

“Hey, I’ve met some toms who can get pregnant! Dont judge, sparkles, I know more than you do. Besides, these aren't my kits. They're a friends.”

Mistoffelees gave him a side eye.

“Why would such a boring cat like you have friends?”

Tugger's response was to give him a playful, kitten-like shove. 

“You remember when I was a street cat for a bit?”

“You mean when you were too stupid and stubborn to come ask to sleep in my den? Or your brothers' den? Or with your father's humans?”

“ _ Shut up!”  _ He growled, but all with a smirk on his face. Tugger could acknowledge that he had been a little bit stupid during that time. “Well, as I was saying, I was a street cat for a little bit! And during my hard times on the streets, I met a few cats, and I still stay in contact with some of them.” The large cat's chest puffed out proudly.

The smaller cat frowned. 

“What does this have to do with why there are two kits in your human house?”

“Well, my friend Brise needed some help, and my humans are away for a bit, so I volunteered myself.”

He turned to his friend.

“Now it's  _ my  _ turn to ask the questions. What happened in the kitchen?”

The tuxedo cat rolled his eyes, as if he were exasperated.

“That kitten of yours is very sneaky. I went into the kitchen to try and find you, because that's usually where you are at this time. All that was there were two mice and a broken bowl, so I magicked the mice into that sticky stuff the humans use to fix things, and then magicked it all back together. I was going to just put it away when something caught my eye, and I turned because I thought it was you, but it was some random she-kit! The little devil was closer to me then I had thought, and startled me so badly that I threw the bowl. That must have been what you heard earlier.”

“She's not  _ my  _ kitten!” Tugger retaliated with. “Besides, you're literally a magic cat. How were you scared so easily?”

Said magic cat simply shrugged. “I don't know. One second she wasn't there, the next second she was.”

“Huh.” He turned back to look for the kittens, only to find them racing towards him. Both the she-kits skidded to a stop in front of the toms.

Maria gave Mistoffelees one look, let out a tiny ‘eep’, and hid herself a bit behind her sister. Just as expected, Cleo puffed up her chest and looked at Mistoffelees, her tail high up in the air and the thin fur that she had puffed up.

“Who are you?” She tried to growl, except she's just a tiny kitten with a high pitched voice, so it was adorable instead of threatening.

Mistoffelees frowned. “Tugger certainly didn't teach you any manners, did he?”

Cleo just looked confused, while Tugger rolled his eyes. The larger cat stalked in front of the kittens, blocking Mistoffelees from view. He swayed his hips slightly, ruffling his maine to catch the kittens attention, his tail swinging at a comfortable level.

“Well, certainly you've heard of Mr. Mistoffelees, the Original Conjuring Cat?”

Both the kittens shook their heads, and The Rum Tum Tugger could hear Mistoffelees grumble behind him. It sounded something along the lines of,  _ Oh, Everlasting Cat, not again... _

Dramatically, Tugger waved his paws in the air.

“Don't scoff! All his inventions are off his own back.” The maned cat made a show of himself, spreading his legs apart to plant himself in place. “And we all say, Oh! Well, I never was there ever, a cat so clever as Magical Mr. Mistoffelees!”

Here, Tugger paused, and within seconds, glitter had covered him. The cat certainly hadn't been expecting that! The idea that had been in his mind had been that Mistoffelees would say his presto and magically appear in front of him, or something else dramatic. Then again, you never knew what to expect from that cat. He always made it a habit of calling Tugger names, and teasing him. He had even called Tugger a bore during his own song!

Luckily, this brought out giggles from the kittens. 

Mistoffelees walked out from behind Tugger, a grin on his face.

“What, you expect me to do my magic on the queue just for you?”

The tall cat just made a face, shaking his mane a little bit. Glitter seemed to pour out of it, floating to the ground around him while the girls clapped and giggled.

“Ladies! I thought you were on my side!” Tugger said, pretending to be even more dramatic.

“I like the magic!” Was Cleos response. She held her paws up into the air, making grabby hands and Mistoffelees. He just stood there awkwardly.

“Uh, thanks?” 

Tugger laughed. “Come on, sparkles, you gotta pick her up!”

_ “What?” _

The magic cat turned, giving him a weird look while Cleo continued exactly as she had been, waiting for the tom to pick her up in his arms. Tugger gestured towards her with one paw while giving his friend a nudge on the back with the other.

Finally, Mistoffelees bent down and heaved the kitten up into his arms. She cheered in response.

“I want glitter! I want glitter!” Cleo chanted, so with a sigh, he waved his paw above her head, letting a small amount of glitter fall from it. Once again, the small kitten cheered.

Mistoffelees turned back to Tugger.

“Have fun cleaning up.”

\---

The four cats all ate together that night. They actually took the kittens out hunting with them, so that they could get some practice and some outdoor time. It was entertaining to watch as the two little girls tried to pounce on their food, which probably weighed the same amount as them.

By the time the group went back into the house, it was dark out, and both the kittens were stumbling on their paws. They flopped down almost as soon as they got inside.

“Come on, let's get into a more comfortable spot.” Muttered Tugger, picking them up in his arms. He walked them into the human she-kits room, laying them onto the same pile of blankets as before. Afterwards, Tugger went back out to the door, where Mistoffelees was waiting.

“Are you going back to the Junkyard?”

Mistoffelees nodded. “Nowhere else to go, and I need to sleep tonight anyways.”

The larger cat nuzzles up against the other Tom. “Why not just stay the night?”

There was a small meow from behind the two, and Tugger turned quickly.

There stood Maria. Once again, she had been completely silent somehow, and now she was just here. 

“Please stay?” She meowed, looking up at Mistoffelees. The magic cat pulled away from Rum Tum Tugger, and knelt down to her height. Maria quickly wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug.

Mistoffelees looked up at Tugger. 

“I guess staying one night wouldn't hurt.”

  
  



	4. Day 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for the reviews! heres some more misto and tugger, but not for long >:]

**DAY 3**

\---...---

“Haha! They're cuddling!”

“Don't be  _ rude _ , they're taking care of us, Cleo.”

“I’m not being rude! How is that rude! It's not rude!”

Rum Tum Tugger opened his eyes. He already knew that it wasn't morning, because the spot he was sleeping in was still dark. The entire room was dark. The only ‘source’ of light were two sets of large, glowing eyes. It took a second for Tugger's eyes to adjust to the room, but finally the cat's night vision kicked in and he was able to see the kittens standing there.

He squinted his eyes at them. “What is it?”

Cleo giggled again, her voice echoing around the drawer. 

Maria, on the other hand, moved closer to the Maine Coon.

“Can I sleep here?” She meowed quietly.

“Of course!” Tugger replied, moving slightly so that she would have room in the drawer. It was then that he realized that Mistoffelees were there. He wasn't exactly cuddling, not in a way that Tugger would consider cuddling, but curled up very close to him. His long black tail was laying across the larger cat's body. Said cat's eyes went wide as he saw him lying there, so close to him, but he quickly turned back to the kittens. Having a fanclub helped him hide these emotions; if he wanted to keep fans, he had to keep staying uninterested in everyone, no matter how interested he was.

“Well?” He said to Maria, opening his arms for her. To his surprise, Cleo, whom he had originally assumed was only there for moral support to her sister, climbed into his arms. She draped herself over him, and buried her face in his mane, like she was trying to hide from something.

Maria moved behind Tugger, to where Mistoffelees was laying. She layed near him, before scooting close enough to touch him. When her fur brushed against his, he seemed to automatically reach out, grabbing the kitten and pulling her close. The magic cat muttered something under his breath, before settling back down.

He obviously wasn't a morning cat.

Once again, the drawer was silent. Everyone was breathing evenly, mostly(or heavily in some cases) asleep. Only The Rum Tum Tugger lay awake.

It was well known that Tugger did not like cuddles, but for some reason, he had still reached out and let Cleo slide into his arms.

Cuddles made Tugger, a large cat with a lot of fur, despite being shaved partially for show, very hot, sweaty, and uncomfortable. He hated it when cats touched his mane, he hated it when the kittens tried to get into his arms, he hated it when his  _ acquaintances  _ would try and stay the night, despite him making it clear that it was a one time thing.

But, these kittens were different. Their obsession with him wasn't because they found him sexually appealing, but because they genuinely liked him, and thought of him like family. 

Tugger smiled up at the bedroom ceiling. He looked down at the kitten laying in his arms, then over at the two cats next to him, and smiled.

He didn't even remember falling asleep.

\--

This time, Tugger didn't get woken by kittens giggling, but by a heavy weight crushing him. Well, it wasn't a  _ heavy _ weight, just a heavy  _ enough _ weight, so that Tugger could tell that someone or something was on top of him. 

Opening his eyes told him nothing, as at some point the cat had rolled onto his stomach and the weight was actually on his back. So, there was only one reasonable way to solve this problem; stand up!

Tugger did just that, and there was a slight grunt as whoever had been on him hit the ground. Turning around told him that it was... Oh. Just Mistoffelees.

The tuxedo cat rolled over, grumbling, before curling around himself and falling back asleep. This made Tugger snort; if only Munkustrap could see this situation, if only to be proven wrong about his brother's habits.

The maine coon headed towards the ‘exit’ of the drawer, and almost tripped over a kit on his way out. Which one it was, he couldn't tell, as when they were both completely asleep like this, all calm and not dreaming, they looked identical.

On second thought, he didn't want his brother to see this right now, as it would raise a lot of questions. Those questions could include,  _ whose kits are they? Why are you and Mistoffelees sleeping together? Why are the kits sleeping with you? Did you get another Queen pregnant, or is your song about Mistoffelees true? _

Either way, he wouldn't want to deal with  _ that. _

None of the other cats, kittens or Mistoffelees, had woken up yet, so Tugger figured that leaping onto the vanity to take a look in the mirror wouldn't hurt anything.

The human she-kit kept her mirror better cleaned then the human Tom and Queen of the house. As previously mentioned, the bathroom mirror was always dirty; it was often covered in a disgusting tasting paste and water marks that had gotten flicked on while his owners did that weird thing where they washed their teeth. Once a month, they brought Tugger into the vet to have them do the same to him, and it was revolting.

The human she-kit only used her mirror to brush her hair, pull it into fancy braids, and put paint on her face. It never really got messy, except for the one time that the human tom-kit had come in and thrown stuff around. 

When it did get dirty, she washed it right away, and even if it wasn't dirty, Tugger had witnessed her washing it at least once a week.

Besides that, the mirror was lower, so that Tugger could see his full body. It was good for practicing his poses, to make the kits back at the Junkyard scream in joy.

She also has a comb on the dresser, which is much easier for Tugger to pick and run through the larger knots in his mane. He had tried the hairbrush once, and had been unable to hold it that well. 

He hummed while fixing his mane, perfecting the curl at the front and adjusting his belt and collar to look perfect. Tugger had  _ almost  _ forgotten that he wouldn't be going to the Junkyard that day to teaze the locals, and would have completely forgotten and walked off if there hadn't been a tiny, high pitched yawn from inside the drawer.

“Tugger?” Called a kitten's voice, followed by an  _ oomph  _ as said kitten most likely stepped on someone.

The tiny head of Maria poked out of the drawer, looking up at him. He smiled down at her.

She reached her tiny paws up to scramble up the side of the dresser, and he grabbed her once she was close enough and pulled her the rest of the way.




“How's it going, kit?”

She smiled, resting her head on his shoulder in response.

“Well, would you like to practice with me?”

Maria looked slightly confused. “What are you practicing?”

“Oh, just my rock star poses! I have to be perfect for my fanclub, you know.”

“I wanna do it! I wanna do it!” Called another tiny voice, once again coming from the drawer. Little Cleo peered out this time, and there was another  _ oomph _ from in the drawer as she used Mistoffelees sleeping body as leverage to begin climbing the drawer. Tugger didn't even need to help her up, as she basically launched herself over the edge, using the handles on the drawers to push herself up.

“I made it up! What are we doing?” Cleo squealed happily.

“Well, you didn't fall, so I guess you're okay...” Tugger muttered in response.

“Pft, would have been fine if I had fallen!” She said with a flick of her paw. “Besides, Mr. Mistoffelees is down there! He would have caught me!”

Tugger looked down at the drawer again. The only movement that was coming from Mistoffelees was the steady rise and fall of his body as he breathed in and out without interruption.

“...I am sure he would have. Now! Back to the mirror!”

The three cats turned back to the mirror that they were standing in front of. Tugger set down Maria, and placed both his paws on his hips. Cleo automatically copied him, legs wide apart in a strong stance and a bright smile on her face.

He turned to Maria, and she tentatively placed her hands on her hips.

“Great! Now, you have to fluffy out your mane and hold your tail high!”

Both the girls held their tails proudly, and Cleo fluffed up the little bit of fur around her neck. Maria, on the other hand, looked a bit sad because she didn't have as much fur there, and couldn't fluff it up like a mane. Her sister had obviously gotten more of her father's genes, and was therefore a bit more fluffy and furry.

“That part is not as important, of course,” He reasoned. “The  _ important _ thing is the dancing.”

With that being said, Tugger began to swing his hips back and forth, humming under his breath as he swayed across the dresser. Out of the corner of his eyes, the tom spotted a perfume bottle sitting near the edge, and with a cheeky smile and a flick of his tail, swiped it right over the edge.

A quick glance over the edge showed it landing in the drawer that the three had been dangerously left open, and the glass bottle shattered as it hit the edge of Mistoffelees sleeping spot. Some of the liquid slipped out and onto the clothing, but hey, the human she-kit knew that Tugger would impulsively knock things over. She should have thought about that before leaving her room in such a mess! Plus the fact that he had never seen her use that bottle of perfume, probably because of that nasty smell.

Tugger turned around, pleased with his work, and pleased with the reaction from the girls; they were giggling while holding their paws over their faces to block out the smell. the smell.

At long last, Mistoffelees stirred, and took in a deep breath; only to start coughing and hacking. The bottle had spilled on the clothing he had been curled up on in the drawer, as well as all over his fur. Luckily, the magic cat had short fur, so it wouldn't soak in and last as long as it would on someone like Tugger. Besides, Mistoffelees had magic! 

Said cat glared up at the perpetrator, and flicked his paws in a downward motion. All the liquid that had fallen on him was gone, but the smell of perfume was still strong in the air and would probably remain that way until the human cleaned her room.

He leapt up next to the rest of the cats, only looking at Tugger. Tugger simply smiled in return. Mistoffelees stared at him, hard.

"Hey, kits, did you know that The Rum Tum Tugger is a terrible bore?" Both the kits giggled again. "Anyways!"

Mistoffelees fluffed up the white ruffles on his chest, and turned his nose up to the air.

"Bustopher Jones is going to bring some rice pudding to the Junkyard today!" He said proudly. Mistoffelees admired Bustopher, and always tried to be there whenever he was around. It was pretty rare to see another tuxedo cat around these parts, and the magician wanted to someday be as well known as the other. "Are you coming?" He asked the group.

While the kittens jumped up and down enthusiastically, Tugger was, surprisingly, more reluctant. He glanced outside, back at the kits, and outside again, all while running his paws back and forth along his belt.

"Ah, I promised their mother that I wouldn't take them to the Junkyard until they're older," He explained.

This made Mistoffelees frown.

"What about the rice pudding? It's the best thing! And you always come with me and let me eat yours!"

Tugger put an arm around his friend's shoulder and walked him a short distance away from the kits, who were fantasizing about what rice pudding could possibly be.

"Listen, sparkles, I would love to go get some food with you, but their mother would have my head if I brought them there. I try and always keep my promises, especially to her."

The magic cat looked disappointed, but suddenly perked up,

"He gets it from one of his clubs! If we go back there, there might be some in the dumpster!"

The maine coon looked back at the kittens, then back at his friend, and shrugged. "Well, it won't hurt anything!"

\--

They had barely reached the end of the block before Maria grabbed onto Mistoffelees arm and gave it a few tugs. When he turned to look at her, confused, she reached up her arms, asking him to pick her up.

While Tugger was a large cat, and could carry a kitten without any struggle, Mistoffelees was just your average sized tuxedo cat. Maybe he was even a little bit smaller than the average cat! He's skinny, a decent head shorter than Tugger, but still quite a bit taller than the kittens, which could work out, except for the fact that he isn't exactly strong. I mean, the cat has magic, when had he ever needed to work out and practice lifting things to help around the junkyard? With just a snap of his claws, something could be floating across the Junkyard whenever Munkustrap asked!

But Mistoffelees wasn't about to use his magic on this tiny kitten. First of all, it was impolite to use magical powers on somebody without asking their guardians, and secondly, he didn't want to risk accidentally sending the kitten to an alternate universe or something. 

So, just like when picking up her sister, the tom heaved her into his arms and began to walk, wobbling slightly under her weight.

Tugger laughed at this sight.

“Common, sparkles, don't you have a sister? Did you just not pick her up when she was little?”

“Were twins, you idiot! And she's always been bigger than me, anyways.”

The group rounded the corner. Cleo bounced up and down from the ground, looking around excitedly at everything.

“Is that rice pudding?” She asked, pointing at a random house in the distance with her tail.

“Is that rice pudding?” She asked, pointing into a storefront that they passed by with her tail.

“Is that rice pudding?” She asked, head deep into a water drain that was on the street. Quickly, Tugger grabbed her out of there.

“Everlasting Cat, you almost killed me there!” He exclaimed, setting her down a safe distance from the drain. Her sister didn't even react, seemingly not worried about her twin. Or maybe she was just asleep?

“Oh,” Cleo deadpanned. “Sorry!” Then she ran off again, trying to determine if an old shoe might have whatever her idea of rice pudding was in it.

“Okay, down you go,” Mistoffelees tried to tell Maria as they entered an alleyway. The kitten simply held on tighter and squeezed her eyes shut.

"I can just get it," Offered Tugger, looking up at the dumpster. 

"Tugger, not only do you hate rice pudding, but you despise getting in the trash. Last year, you kept complaining about how much your mane smelled."

_ "Hey! You said you wouldn't mention that!" _

Mistoffelees just shrugged. "I hate to break it to you, but the whole Junkyard noticed. It did smell pretty rank." He continued trying to pry the tiny paws off of himself, but everytime he got one paw off and tried to move to the other, she simply reattached that paw to him.

It was a funny sight, and made Tugger giggle. Finally, something useful that The Rum Tum Tugger was good at; handling kittens!

While the magician was distracted, Tugger took a large leap and scrambled up the side of the bin, even as Mistoffelees protested down below. 

Hah! He could prove that damn tux wrong! He could get that stupid rice pudding!

Tugger wobbled at the top for a split second, before tentatively reaching in, moving a few bags to the side. He couldn't smell anything  _ just  _ yet, so he leaned a little bit further in, to see if the pudding was in a farther bag. Just as he thought he could get a whiff of it, his claws slipped on the dumpster, and he fell in with a slight splat.

It was quiet from outside the dumpster. Maybe the cats were concerned for him, that would be nice; or maybe the bags were just so big and heavy and basically crushing him that he couldn't hear anything!

He waved his paws around, claws out, basically swimming through the sea of garbage. Now, listening closely, he could hear a slight chatter that must have been coming from the cats waiting outside, plus a door creaking open.

_ Crap, a door! _

The meows stopped, and the sound of a human humming came closer. 

Suddenly, a bag dropped over the little bit of his head that was sticking out! Tugger gave a yowl in surprise, and the human gasped.

Within seconds, Tugger was dug out of the trashcan by a concerned looking human tom. He held the cat with one of his hands, and looked mildly disgusted, most likely by all the food in his (formerly clean) mane.

Tugger, however, didn't look at the human, and swung his head around to look for wherever Mistoffelees and the kits had gone. In all honesty, he didn't have to worry about them; Mistoffelees lived in the Junkyard year-round, and the kittens lived in an alley with their mother, so they were more adept at hiding from humans than Tugger currently was, but he was still concerned.

The human gently lowered Tugger to the ground, where he finally spotted Mistoffelees and the kittens hiding behind a bit of trash. He almost started to make his way over to them, but the human suddenly knelt down in front of him, and he froze.

"Poor kitty," the human said, tilting his head at The Rum Tum Tugger. "You just wanted some food, didnt you?"

The human continued to observe the cat for another minute, before following to where his head was pointed. For some reason, Tugger had continued to look over at the other cats every few seconds, and this head gave the human tom a clue that something might be over there.

He quickly spotted Mistoffelees, Maria, and Cleo, and gasped.

"Oh my! You're just trying to feed your family!" He stood up, a smile on his face. "I have just the thing for you!"

The human vanished back into the door he had probably come from, but Tugger still tensely sat in his spot.

Mistoffelees voice rang in his ears suddenly, asking with magic,

"What was he saying?"

It took a minute for Tugger to remember that his friend, who had never lived with humans before, couldn't understand their language, and while Tugger couldn't understand it perfectly like some cats who had always had permanent human homes(Rumpleteazer and Mungojerrie could even write like humans!), he could understand enough to know what had been said.

"Ah, I just convinced him to bring out some food," Tugger replied smoothly. His meow shook a little, as he didnt know for sure what the human was going to do or bring. The most that Tugger had understood was that the human had called Mistoffelees and the kittens "family" and then said something about "food".

The tux rolled his eyes, probably not believing him, but Cleo and Maria looked impressed and excited.

They bound out to him, and he swept them closer with his tail. Mistoffelees simply stayed where he was.

While the kits had never had any experience with humans, and would probably be happy to get adopted in the future, Mistoffelees was plenty old enough to have met humans before. At some point, he had gotten taken to a shelter, but quickly escaped; the cat hated being touched without asking, and he couldn't exactly tell that to a human, so he prefered to not live with them.

Within a few seconds, the human returned, and set down a bowl in front of him and the kits, a big smile on his face. There was another bowl in his hand, and he turned and set it down in front of Mistoffelees.

“There's this big fat cat that's around here all the time, my boss always gives him this stuff!” He said proudly. The kittens were taking tentative sniffs at the food, as was the tux, when his eyes widened and he looked up at Tugger.

His eyes were sparkling, a smile on his face.

“Rice Pudding!” He meowed at his friend. The kittens meow  _ rice pudding!  _ Along with him, acting excited even though they had no idea what they were talking about. The human laughed, and directed his voice at Tugger.

“See? Your wife and children are perfectly happy! Eat up, kits!”

He went back inside as Tugger's face grew red. Luckily, the human couldn't see this; humans only see the cats as four-legged furry creatures. The illusion of that form doesn't show up for other cats, and sometimes really little children.

So Mistoffelees looked at him curiously between bites.

“What did he say?” He asked, except his mouth was stuffed full of the pudding, so it came out more along the lines of, ‘ _ Wot did ee phay?’  _

Somehow, Tugger still understood him.

“Ah, just enjoy the food.” He replied with a casual shrug.

This made the magic cat frown.

“Well, everyone but you is enjoying it. I thought you said earlier you liked this stuff?” At this point, Mistofistoffelees was licking the food off of his paws and cleaning out the remains of the bowl.

“Oh, I do!” Tugger said, daintily licking a tiny bit of the food that the kittens had splashed onto his paw. Out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted a mouse running along the wall, trying to pass the cats without being noticed. Without a second thought, he pounced, killing it in an instant and beginning to gobbling the meat up.

Mistoffelees looked amused, but also mildly disappointed.

“Best of both worlds,” Tugger muttered, mouth full of meat.

They didn't return to Tuggers human house for a little bit. The kittens were currently calm and happy, but Mistoffelees claimed that if they didn't ‘wear themselves out’, then they would be bouncing off the walls within an hour. Tugger, despite basically living with his niece, Jemima, had never seen this happen to her before, and none of the other kittens had ever done it. He didn't remember doing that when he was a kit, either, but then again, he didn't remember most of his knighthood.

The girls ran around the garden that they had hunted in the other day. They chased butterflies up into the sky, cheering each other on while Mistoffelees and Tugger sat to the side.

“I have to get back to the Junkyard,” Mistoffelees suddenly said.

Tugger looked at him, surprised. “Why?”

“I don't stay away for long, you know that. Vicky will be expecting me back at any time today, especially since I missed Bustophers visit.”

The maine coon looked disappointed. He leaned into his friend, just a little bit, but his friend leaned away from him and gave him a warning stare. Quickly, Tugger went back to himself, curling his tail around his body. The sad look quickly vanished from his face.

It was a practiced act; he knew exactly how to change his face to be the exact opposite of his emotions. If he wasn't calm, cool, collected, and flirtatious at all times, how would he maintain a fanclub, and get to be a big, famous rock star?

He had seen millions of human celebrities on the television, a strange magic box with people in it, that kept up this same persona. Even Bustopher Jones did not show when he was sad or disappointed in himself and others. 

The only ‘celebrity’ who showed her emotions was Grizabella, and everyone had seen how she had turned out; washed up, slinking back to beg for forgiveness. If the Rum Tum Tugger was going to make it big, he was going to do it the right way.

So he turned his head back to the kittens, not giving Mistoffelees a second glance.

“Fine, have fun,” He told him.

This time, it was Mistoffelees who initiated the contact, wrapping an arm around his shoulder and curling his tail around his friend's leg. They leaned into each other again, only for a split second, before awkwardly separating.

“Hey, I’ll come back, if you want me to,” He muttered, but Tugger did not respond. By the time he looked away from the kittens, Mistoffelees had gone.

  
  



	5. Day 4

**DAY 4**

\---...---

They had returned to Tugger's human home late that night, full of good food and tired. Neither of the kittens questioned the disappearance of Mistoffelees, for once they were inside the cat door, they collapsed, too tired to even get to bed. Tugger carried them one-by-one to the pile of clothing that they had slept in before, and then went to the boys room to sleep in his drawer. It probably would have been better if he had slept in the same room as the kittens, but he had figured that they would come get him if they needed to. Plus, the human she-kits drawer still stunk of perfume.

Before he had fallen asleep, the cat door rattled. He thought for a second, thinking that it might have been one of the kittens using the bathroom, but they were not big enough to push the door open that easily.

Slowly, Tugger hopped out and slunk around the door. Nothing.

Slowly, Tugger made his way down the hall, towards the room where the kits were sleeping. Nothing.

Slowly, Tugger made his way towards the cat door. Nothing.

He turned, and came face to face with one of the kits!

Well, not exactly face to face; both of the kits came up to nowhere near him. They were about head shorter than their mother, but the tip of a thin tail shook high in the air, wavering in his eyes range.

Tugger looked down, and made eye contact with a sleepy looking Cleo. She raised her head up towards him, looking with half-lidded, tired eyes.

“I think there's someone in here,” She muttered.

The tom frowned down at her. “So that wasn't you or your sister coming in from the bathroom?”

She shook her tiny head, making her large ears wiggle.

This made Tugger sigh.  _ Great, _ he thought,  _ now I have to find whatever animal snuck in! _

However, he figured that as long as it wasnt a peke or pollicle, then he would be able to get it out. If anything, a pollicle wouldn't be able to fit through the cat door, as they were usually larger, making the creature either a peke, a rodent, or some cat.

The cat hoped that it was just a rodent, and not some random stray cat that had seen the supposedly empty house and broken in for some warmth.

If it was another cat, he had to narrow the possibilities down. 

Mistoffelees? No, the tux knew how to be stubborn and wouldnt have come back so soon; plus he thought that cat doors were stupid and simple walked through the door or teleported himself inside.

A stray, who thought that there was no one home and there might be food laying around to steal? It had never happened to him before, but he had heard about it happening to his brother.

Perhaps another cat from the Junkyard, hoping to find out what he was doing. It could be Victoria, coming to find her brother right as he came back. It could be his Munkustrap, wondering where he was. It could be the twins; the troublemaker ones, not the psychics, hoping to cause chaos.

At this point, Cleo and Tugger had circled the rest of the house. There was nothing. No creaky windows, not rattling cat doors, no flitting shadows.

Tugger looked down at the tired kit.

"I'll look again, but I think we were just hearing things, sweetheart," he told her.

She looked at him, in a slight daze, before nodding and stumbling off to the room. 

\--

After the seemingly regularly scheduled midnight wake-up, Tugger was risen by the sun. Thank the Everlasting Cat for beauty sleep, because he had needed it! 

Instead of a crash, or screaming, or the pitter-patter of tiny paws running to ask him for help, the house was echoing with happy little chirps. The kittens must have been playing with some of the cat toys that Tuggers humans liked to leave around the house to tempt him with. He had never given in while they were looking.

The kittens had also brought their own toys, so they were probably playing with a combination.

When he sauntered out into the hall, mane still a mess, the cat was surprised to find the noises were not coming from the room the kittens had slept in. Luckily, this gave him the chance to go in and use the mirror to make himself more perfect than usual.

The laughter from the kittens and rattling from the toys continued, so he made his way casually down the hall again.

The room that Tugger found the kittens in was what the humans call a living room. It has something called a couch, which is a very soft and long chair, as well as a television and a table that is very short. Sometimes, the human kits put their feet on it, but the human Queen always yells at them. 

The kittens were tumbling around together, playing with each other. There were small toys littered around, some he recognized vaguely but a majority that he didn't.

And, up there on the couch, looking quite proud of herself, sat Bombalurina. There was a smile on her face, and she watched the kittens fondly. When he looked back down, just for a better look, Tugger found that there were actually three kittens; Maria and Cleo were there, looking up happily at Jemima, as she talked about some toys. Seconds later, they tackled her in happiness.

Cautiously, in case this was an illusion, and Macavity was actually sitting up there, The Rum Tum Tugger got up onto the couch. Once he got closer to the Queen, she smiled and purred,

"Hey there, hot stuff."

Tugger brightened at this. It was easy to recognize that this was the real Bombalurina, from her recognizable pattern to her seductive smile.

"Well, my lady," He returned, "When did you arrive?"

She shrugged, running her claws through her soft fur.

“Oh, earlier. We waited until Mistoffelees had finished talking about these kits that you were watching.”

This made the maine coon frown. “He told everyone that I’m kit-sitting?”

“Oh, no!” She said with a laugh. “Jemima was over at his sisters to have a girls night, and she told me that she is too old to be picked up after, but I wanted to talk to Victoria about some things anyways. You know, her and Mistoffelees are old enough to be involved with adult business, but still have kitten friends. Must be an awkward stage in life.” She waved a paw, brushing that information aside. “Anyways, that tux came barging in, sprinting, both excited and concerned at the same time. He kept talking about the sweet little kittens and some rice pudding and that he was worried about you! I don't think he even noticed anyone other than Victoria.”

Bombalurina swished her tail to curl around her front paws, and turned her head back to look at Tugger. “We just walked out as he was finishing, and Jemima asked if we could make a visit. You know that she just loves kittens, she's going to be an amazing mother one day.”

Tugger looked down at what the kittens were doing this time. Now, they seemed to be organizing a game of hide and seek; Jemima had turned her back and begun to count loudly.

“So, I’m guessing all these toys are her old ones?”

“Yup! She thought that a pair of homeless kittens could use something special.”

He smiled, proud of his niece for her thoughtfulness.

“Now, what did Demeter and Munk have to say about you taking Jemima out of the Junkyard? Didn't they say she's too much of a target?”

A paw shot out, gently slapping Tugger across the face. Well, she might have been trying to be gentle, but it hasn't worked. That  _ hurt! _

“What was that for!” He protested, turning to the Queen with a hurt expression.

The queen didn't reply, simply turning back to watching the three play.

Jemima was the daughter of Demeter and Macavity, although she had been raised as if her parents were Demeter, Munkustrap, and Bombalurina. The three had done an amazing job, raising a loving, kind, and accepting daughter who loved and got along with everyone. Tugger could still remember when she was a kit, and followed him around. She had even tried to wear a belt similar to his for a few days, but soon gave up, claiming it was uncomfortable.

While Jemima thought of Demeter, Munkustrap, and Bombalurina as her parents, and the three thought of her as their daughter, Macavity knew that Demeter had given birth to a kit. He knew that he had gotten her pregnant, and that she had given birth before running away with the kitten, in hopes of keeping her safe.

And sure, the entire Junkyard would kill and die for Jemima, but that doesn't mean that Macavity isn't a dangerous cat! 

One cat walking the kitten, even if she was nearly an adult, out and about of the Junkyard, was mildly dangerous, and you couldn't blame Tugger for worrying.

"Well, did the trip go well?"

This made Bombalurina smile, and she purred softly, "Yes. She enjoyed finally being out of the Junkyard. Kept saying how seeing these tiny kits would be like having sisters."

Tugger also smiled at that. Jemima was such an amazingly sweet cat, and the maine coon knew that she would one day grow up to be an amazing Jellicle Protector, just like her father.

Down on the floor, Jemima happily played with the twin kittens.

Before meeting them, she had been a little bit terrified. They were supposedly tiny, excited street cats, whose mother was off looking for a home for them to stay in for the winter, while Jemima had two mothers, a father, and a winter home! She wanted everyone to be happy, and make the kittens like her, and had asked her Mama to help her find some toys.

The two had scoured the Junkyard, even taking a stop at her Dad's human house to grab a few nice cat toys that he hopefully wouldn't miss. She had been prepared to befriend these cats!

In fact, poor little Jemima hadn't been able to sleep, and had insisted that they go to Tuggers  _ right away. _ It had been dark out, but her Mama had held her head high, said a few words to her Mom and Dad, before they left.

Jemima had counted the toys at  _ least  _ 9 times during the trip, and stopped her Mama at the end of every few blocks so that they could make sure they were all there. When they had arrived at the cat door, she had insisted on stopping outside to groom herself, and adjusted and shined her awesomely cool collar that had been a gift from Tugger and was sure to impress kittens. 

When they had finally creaked in through the cat door, and her Mama had led the way to what she said humans call a living room, all that could be heard around them were the crickets and squirrels. Even the birds and bees had gone to sleep at this point, leaving a creepy silence.

The house was partially lit, partially dark. Some spots seemed to have light coming out from them, while others were completely dark.

While her Mama went to take a little cat nap, Jemima had arranged all the toys in places. Some balls around the legs of a table, toy mice went near the chair. Some string went on top of a table, and she even stood on the tips of her hind paws to stick giant feathers into crevices. That way, the kittens could bat at the ends that were hanging down!

She had paced around the room, before finally passing out next to her Mama.

Of course, the kitten has not been able to sleep long, and her racing mind woke her up early. She crept around the house, exploring even more, to keep herself distracted until the kittens awoke.

\--

In the end, she didn't even wait until the kittens woke up! Surprise, the impatient cat ended up walking right into the room where the two she-kits were curled up on a blanket next to each other. 

She had been mildly startled to see them at first, and had walked right over to them, startling them as they slept as well.

Naturally, the little kits had been scared shitless by the much older and bigger kitten who was in the room they were sleeping in, but Jemima smiled sweetly and explained how she knew The Rum Tum Tugger and Mr. Mistoffelees. She told them all about the Junkyard that she lived in with the other Jellicles, and how her Mama had brought her here because they had heard about the little kits. 

Eventually, the kittens had come out and introduced themselves to her, and her to them, before they all went to go play.

Currently, Jemima was teaching the kittens a game that she had learned in the Junkyard. This game had been taught to her by Tumblebrutus and Pouncival, who had seen their human-kits playing it before.

The game went like this; One of the kits would put their paws over their eyes and turn their back, while counting to ten. The other kits playing the game would then find a place to hide in the Junkyard, or, in this case, in the human house. After counting to ten, the other kit would try to find them.

Jemima explained this to them, and then said that she would count first, and turned her back and put her paws up to her eyes to do so.

“One…” She started loudly, making sure not to peak. She also counted slowly, to give the kits extra time. They were so young and had never played this before, she wanted to be careful!”

“Five… Six…” More rustling sounded behind her, and a couple of small, high-pitched giggles.

“Nine… Ten! I’m coming!” Jemima waited a second for whichever of the kits had screamed to stop, before turning around and looking.

Maria was easy to spot; obviously not knowing what to do, the little kit had just stood behind one of the legs of a table. She peaked her head out, and then ‘eeped’ at the sight of the older kit. Jemima remembered the first time that she had played this game with the older kits, she hadn't known where to hide and had been found right away, which resulted in her crying. She remembered how upset and sad she had felt at being found first and essentially ‘losing’ the game, so she pretended to have not seen the kit.

Cleo seemed to have some idea of where to hide. Jemima had noticed that she was more hyperactive, brave, and, really, a little more creative. Where her sister was a follower, Cleo was a leader, and wanted to do the best of the best, the biggest of the biggest.

“Hmm, Where could Maria and Cleo be?” Jemima said out loud, standing on her hind legs to get a better look. She pretended to look around, and heard a bit of giggling from under the human couch that Uncle Tugger and Mama were sitting on, so she instead headed to the opposite side of the room.

“Is Maria under this rug?” She asked loudly, pretending to look under. 

“No!” Shouted Maria, laughing. Her sister also laughed from under the couch, sticking her tail out a little bit.

“Oh, I think I see someone!” Jemima called, and went to bat at the tail a little. “Now, that tail can only belong to Cleo, I just know it.”

Cleo rolled out, laughing. “Did I win the game?”

“If you find Maria, then you can count next!” She told her.

Unlike Jemima, who had been letting Maria and Cleo have the advantage, Cleo took off right towards the table leg, tackling her sister down without a second thought.

“I found you! I found you!” She screeched, rolling on top of the other kit.

Jemima looked up at the cats on the couch, and smiled. She loved having new friends.

\--

While the kits happily enjoyed a lunch that Jemima had helped them catch, Bombalurina and Tugger sat a short distance away. They each snacked on their own rodent, although Tugger had offered the Queen a can of tuna, just as a treat.

“We can’t stay longer than a day,” Bombalurina suddenly said. “If some random street cat saw Jemima when we were headed over here, then Macavity might have been alerted. Besides, I have to help Jenny and Jelly around the Junkyard later.”

Tugger nodded, understanding the situation surprisingly well. Ever since the last Jellicle Ball, Macavity had realized that Demeter had a daughter, and they were all terrified for her. Demeter had been continuously targeted by Macavity for many years, and when she had escaped, he wanted her even more. If he somehow got his paws on Jemima, then he would probably try and figure out if she had magic, and how he could use that against the Jellicle Tribe. 

Besides that, Munkustrap and Demeter would probably freak if Bombalurina and Jemima didn't come home. If those two combined their anxiety together, there would be some trouble, and no one in the tribe needed that.

“You better find a way to explain that to the girls then,” He responded with a laugh, “Because they managed to convince Mistoffelees to stay the night, and Bustopher was supposed to be at the Junkyard the next day! You know he never misses Bustophers visits.”

The rest of the day was spent playing games, sometimes including the adults, but mostly not. The kittens had deemed themselves ‘too cool’ to need them, although Jemima kept saying how, “Uncle and Mama are cool!”

They played right up until Tugger noticed the sun starting to set, and Bombalurina ushered Jemima out of the house and down the road as quickly as possible, not wanting to get caught in the dark.

“Well, Kits, do you want to hunt?” Tugger asked Maria and Cleo. They looked at him, before fighting each other to get to the cat door first. Before they had left the house, Tugger heard one shout,

“We know how to hunt now! We don't need your help!”


	6. Day 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ngl i kinda forgot abut writing for a bit oops

**DAY 5**

The day before had felt nice. Tugger hadn't been woken by screaming kits for once, and it had almost seemed like he wasn't kit-sitting! Sure, he loved the kits, and he would do anything to help their mother, but some alone time could be nice.

Apparently, no one can have nice things for long. He had somehow slept through the sunrise, and was instead awoken when the sun had long-since passed his dresser drawer bed by high-pitched meows of kits.

He stretched for a minute, before his eyes snapped open, realizing that those were the meows of Maria and Cleo. 

Were the kits in trouble? Did they need help? Had Macavity come to his house, ready to attack, and found the kittens? No time to contemplate, he needed to get to them!

He stumbled out of the drawer, quite clumsily for such a fabulous cat, took a quick glance into the mirror(just to make sure), and bolted out the door, only to run into yet  _ another _ cat! It seemed that the tribe couldn't leave him alone for one day.

Tugger had crashed into a beautiful white queen. She sat elegantly in the doorway, giving him an amused look.

“Victoria! What are you doing here?” He asked, surprised.

The young queen moved her paws in several different motions. Tugger frowned.

“Oh, Everlasting, for the last time, they aren't my kits!”

The she-cat giggled, before signing again.

_ I know, silly! I’m just teasing! Now, Misto should be with them, I just wanted to make sure you knew I was here. Hopefully it's okay that I want to meet them. _

Tugger stood close to her, composing himself, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders while purring.

“Of course, sweetheart. Well, off we go, hm?”

He was greeted by yet another sweet but teasing grin, as well as a playful shove. Victoria was such a sweet young cat, and was very lucky to have made it to the Jellicle Tribe with her brother. It was so nice of her to come ask if she could see the kittens as well, unlike Bombalurina and Jemima, who had just barged in.

They quickly hooked arms, and he led her over to where the kittens stayed. Inside the room, Mistoffelees lay on his back, Cleo on top of him. She pounded his chest with her little paws, telling the tom all about yesterday.

Maria looked equally happy and excited, but was not beating up the magical cat to show it. Previously, she had been looking at him in wonder, but now she looked at Victoria with the same expression.

Meanwhile, Cleo was still going off.

“..And you left us for a day! How could you do that? I didn't even notice you leave! Mom always says that's rude, you know? You  _ always _ have to say goodbye! But we were visited by Je-mi-ma and Bomba-rina, and they were really nice, you know? We played games! And they gave us toys! And- and Jemima helped us catch a  _ mouse _ . I think it was as big as Marias head!” She took a deep breath, then looked over at Maria. The other kitten didn't look back, so she followed her gaze to where Tugger and Victoria were standing, looking amused.

Now very curious, Cleo rolled off of the tux so that she was closer to her sister. Both stared up at Victoria.

An albino cat is not something you see every day. Victoria is tall, and pure white on every part of her body. Her eyes are a bright blue, and a little bit glazed over, and Mistoffelees had reiterated once, before any of the other tribe members had learned to understand the she-cats signing, that everything is a bit blurry and hard to see.

Despite this, the beautiful Queen has managed to power through life, reaching adulthood. When Bustopher Jones had first dropped the twins off at the Junkyard, having found them starving in an alley, no one had even been sure that they would survive!

Mistoffelees was still on the smaller side, having been malnourished for the first few years of his life, while Victoria had grown just a bit smaller than Plato, making her quite tall in terms of a normal, short-haired cat who had been malnourished for most of her childhood. The two were also quite the duo, and usually drew the attention of visiting cats right away.

Maria and Cleo continued to look at Victoria in amazement, and she knelt down to greet them with a wave of her paw. 

“What's your name?” Maria asked quietly.

Mistoffelees stepped up next to her, putting a paw on her back as she stood.

“This is my twin sister, Victoria.” 

The Queen stod to her full height, her tail curling around herself shyly. Standing straight up on two paws, as was normal for adult cats, Victoria was an inch or two taller than Mistoffelees. This was something that Tugger had often found himself teasing the twins about when they had all been kittens. Mistoffelees, the powerful magic cat, shorter than his twin sister? A few times, she had added in jokes of her own, such as  _ I thought I was the helpless one, but at least I can reach the top shelf of the den! _

Cleo clapped her paws together, excited.

“Wow! You also have a twin! But you two look nothing alike?”

Mistoffelees shrugged, used to questions like that. “It happens sometimes,” He explained.

Confidently, Cleo stood up, wobbling a bit on her hind legs, before settling down on all four, a bit disappointed. In the end, she sat back and looked up.

“You're very tall,” She informed the white queen. Victoria smiled and giggled, giving the tiny cat a pat on the head.

While Victoria and Mistoffelees were the size of your average, every day cat, the twin kittens were the exact opposite. They were Singapura cats, mixed with another breed that everyone was mildly unsure of, and some of the smallest cats to exist. Added to that, they were kittens. Next to the black and white twins, they were small, and it almost seemed as though they could grow. If they stood on their hind legs, like their mother, and adult cat who would not be growing any older, they would be maybe a bit taller. 

However, next to Tugger, a Maine Coon, they looked as though they could be crushed. The kittens would be expected to grow much more, staying nearly that size for the rest of their lives, and would always look small. Even if they had been raised in a human family, they wouldn't have gotten bigger.

“Are you going to play with us?” Maria asked, quiet and shy.

“She can teach you how to dance,” suggested Mistoffelees. Victoria nodded in agreement. She was always enthusiastic about dancing!

The kittens, eyes still wide, agreed, and she led them over to the human living room.

Tugger turned to follow, wanting to watch the kittens have some fun, but Mistoffelees caught his arm before he could leave.

“Is it okay that I’m back?” He asked quietly.

In response, Tugger pulled the other tom close to him, wrapping his arms around him in a hug. Tugger buried his face in the other tom's fur.

“Sorry,” He muttered into his shoulder. He felt bad about being so rude before, and really not giving his friend a second thought when he had left. Tugger had been mad at himself, just not shown it, not wanting to upset the kittens. Or himself, if he was being honest. Crying in front of the kittens he was supposed to be taking care of was not on his ‘top 10 list of things to do’ that week. Probability not even in the top 20.

Mistoffelees returned the hug, putting his arms around the bigger tom's body and running his hands around his large mane. He nuzzled the other affectionately.

“Your fine. Just, work a bit on that ‘cool guy’ persona. You don't want to hurt anybody with that.”

The tuxedo tom had always been a bit blunt, so Tugger was not at all surprised by his words. It made him smile a bit, knowing that his friend wasn't mad at him.

Eventually, Tugger released his friend from the hug, and the other tom pretended to take in a big breath, before giving him a slight push on the shoulder.

“Come on, let's go see what your kittens are up to.”

\---

Don't ever let Tugger try to convince you that he's not a cuddler.

Sure, he sings about it in a song, and pretends to brush off the cats that will go up to him and touch him. He strays away from humans when there's others around, and will mostly just wrap an arm around another cat's shoulder when they are seen in public.

Don't be fooled by all this; Tugger can often be spotted letting the little human kits of his household pet him and hold and cuddle him. If you were to ever enter the house, you would find him getting up close to all of the people, craving attention from them at the least convenient times.

He does the same with other cats in most cases. For example, right now!

Mistoffelees sat on the edge of the couch, clapping his paws together slowly to try to get the kittens to dance to the beat. Previously, he had used his magic to set music, but it had been distracting for them to start with.

As he clapped his paws, Tugger nuzzled the tom's shoulder, back, and tried to lay his head in his lap; all things that are annoying but hilarious to the kittens. Each time, Mistoffelees would roll his eyes and gently push the big tom away.

Eventually, Tugger settled against the tux’s side. He snuggled in close, purring loudly and smiling brightly as the kittens attempted to follow Victoria's  _ supposedly _ simple moves. If you asked Tugger, they weren't that simple at all. He knew that  _ his _ body would never be able to bend that far, and  _ his  _ legs didn't go up that high, and  _ his _ paws couldn't hold that still! 

Maria seemed to silently agree to the unvoiced opinion; she shook in her spot as they turned, nearly falling over when trying to stand on one leg, and not bending all the way down to touch her toes.

Opposites as always, Cleo followed along as perfectly as a kit could! The little kits eyes never left Victoria, always following her every move. She even did the little things, pointing her limbs in certain ways.

Eventually, Maria gave up, dropping back to her usually four-legged stance and scrambling up the couch to sit with Mistoffelees and Tugger.

With a snap of his claws, Mistoffelees set some good music for the remaining two to dance to, and let Maria snuggle into his lap. 

\---

Finally, long after Tugger's stomach had started to make noises, the two stopped. Victoria grinned, proud of the kit, and Cleo leapt up onto the couch. She slammed into Tugger, squealing with delight, before launching herself into her quiet sister.

“Did you see my dance? Did you?” She shouted, shaking Mistoffelees along with her sister. For a minute, the music got louder as Mistoffelees was surprised, before he quickly turned it off. Magic works in a fun way like that.

Maria nodded, smiling. Despite not being that good or interested in dancing herself, she had continued to watch the two cats as they moved carefully around the humans room long after coming to sit up on the couch.

Tugger stretched, sitting up.

“Now, kits, how about we all go find some good food? Personally, I’m starving.” He meowed, in the nicest way a hungry cat could.

Both of the little kits jumped down from the couch, launching off of Mistoffelees in a way that looked  _ very _ painful. Wow, Tugger was glad that wasn't him. Cleo and Maria each grabbed one of Victoria's paws, and pulled her along to lead to the cat door. She smiled and moved along with them.

Mistoffelees huffed in some air while Tugger giggled a bit, before they both kept off the couch and went to go follow.

\--

Victoria smiled down at the kittens as they led her to the humans cat-exit. She always thought that cat-exits, which Tugger kept  _ insisting _ were actually called cat doors, were very silly. Anything and anyone could get through them, yet humans were stupid enough to keep them on doors that went outside. For example, here she was leaving the house after coming in the cat door! The humans wouldn't even know that so many cats had entered and exited this house in the past few days, they would just come home and give the Rum Tum Tugger a pat and some disgustingly dry food before going back to their daily business.

The kittens pulled the white cat towards a little circle of trees and other plants, where birds flew around and animals scurried through the growth.

“Look, Miss Victoria! I'm going to catch that bird!” One of the kittens whispered. She looked over to where the little she-cat was pointing, and caught sight of what must have been a baby bird, attempting to fly close to the ground. It struggled under its own weight, wings flapping frantically. 

Her eyes widened, and before either of the kits could attempt to jump it, she pulled them back into her arms with more  _ oomph _ than necessary, and they flopped to the ground.

Mistoffelees and Tugger quickly came running up. They had been trailing behind, playing their game of being disgustingly cute and sweet with each other while at the same time not knowing what they were doing. It was a back-and-forth act, and they both liked to deny anything was happening until it actually occurred.

They rushed up to her, and Victoria pointed at the baby bird. She could have signed something, but currently just wanted to diffuse the situation, so she hoped that Mistoffelees would get the cue to use his magic to hear her voice. That's how they had mostly communicated when they were younger.

While Tugger stood by in confusion, Mistoffelees eyes widened, and he knelt down.

“Thats a baby bird! We don't want to kill it, because then we won't have food when we're older. You shouldn't eat baby animals, because they don't taste as good and don't have meat. Plus, if you eat all the babies, then there won't be any of those animals at all because the babies need to grow up!” He explained as quickly and thoroughly as he could.

Maria automatically understood, climbing out of Victoria's arms to go cling to Tuggers leg.

“Im sorry,” She muttered.

“No, your fine, kit!” Mistoffelees replied. He glanced back at Victoria real quickly, and she tilted her head slightly. After a second, he turned back, having collected enough of her thoughts.

“Victoria wants you to know that you're fine, and she is very sorry if she hurt you.”

Cleo struggled out of the white cat's paws, planting herself in front of Mistoffelees. Meanwhile, Tugger picked up Maria and she buried her head in his mane.

“Kit, when you're hunting, you should only go for the grown animals,” Tugger explained softly. Victoria nodded along.

“Why can't we eat it?” Cleo asked.

Victoria began moving her paws, and Mistoffelees quickly followed along.

“Every baby animal grows into a big one. If we eat all the babies, then there will be no big animals in the future, and then we won't ever have any more food,” He said, hoping that the kittens would understand.

Cleo frowned, curious.

“So all those little birds get big?”

“Every animal grows up!” Said Tugger. “That's why kittens become cats!”

Slowly, the little kit nodded, seeming to get it. Then, she bounced right back up.

“Okay! Let's go find food!”

Maria, still embarrassed by her mistake, refused to be let down from her spot in Tugger's arms.

Victoria let Cleo do the big parts of hunting. While the older cat pointed out some good prey, she let the kitten sneak up and pounce on it, quickly killing it and then proudly bringing it back to her to share. On the other side of the yard, she saw Mistoffelees finding his own prey, two squirrels, and then bringing them back to where the Rum Tum Tugger and Maria were still sitting.

Cleo desperately wanted to share her kit-sized (but still grown) bird with Victoria, so she pretended to take a few nibbles from it while really letting the she-kit eat it all. It made the kit happy to share the food with her new friend, so she was going to let it happen. The white cat could hunt back at the Junkyard with some friends, anyways. There was always enough prey around that area.

After at least her brother had finished, Victoria moved to sit next to him, and then signed,

_ I'm going to head home. _

Mistoffelees nodded, slightly distracted, before suddenly looking back at her.

“You're not walking back there alone!” He said, surprised.

_ I can handle myself perfectly fine, thank you!  _ She retorted.

“I'm going to walk you at  _ least _ half way, Vicky! I just want you to be safe.” He whined in response. Oh, Mistoffelees; sure, the white cat cared about her brother and loved him dearly, but sometimes he was too much.

_ Fine, _ she replied. _ Only halfway! No further than that! _

So the two waved goodbye to Tugger and the kits, and then set off.

\--

Mistoffelees had returned to the human house soon enough, looking slightly disgruntled and minorly angry. He had always felt the need to protect his twin sister, especially after finding out he could use magic, and was always angry when he could help or she got hurt in some way. 

But, inside the human house, he was happy to curl up with Tugger while the kittens went to sleep by themselves for one last night.

  
  
  



	7. Day 7 - Ending

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> remember when i said i would post once a week lol  
> anyways heres the last chapter :D thanks for readin yall i hope evehone enjoyed this oc adventure

**DAY 6**

The morning started off slightly later than the other days had, as the sun was already a bit up in the sky. 

Mistoffelees and The Rum Tum Tugger woke the lethargic kittens, and got started with the day.

Tugger immediately scooped up Cleo, and began to groom her. While normally the kitten would squirm and try to get away, today she just seemed so tired and worn out that she simply let herself be cleaned. It seemed that the adventures of the week had finally hit the two smack-dab in the face, and now they were tired out. 

Mistoffelees had never been one for grooming. His short fur never really got out of place, and magic helped to keep it clean, and he didn't have really go around rolling in dirt and dust. There had never been a need for him to clean as obsessively and often as the longer-haired Rum Tum Tugger did. 

So, instead of cleaning the other kitten, he entertained her. Sparkles and rainbows flew from his paws, fake birds flapped around Maria's ears, and she sleepily watched in awe.

When Tugger finally finished with the first kit, she scrambled down and planted herself in front of Mistoffelees, ready to see his light show while Maria got cleaned instead.

A few minutes into the 'show', Mistoffelees stopped, just for a little break. As he stood there, calmly catching his breath, Cleo asked a question.

"Do we  _ have  _ to go back to our mom?"

Her voice was unusually quiet with this question, and Mistoffelees looked over at her, surprised.

"Oh, of course! I'm sure your mom is ready and excited to have you back!"

"But you guys are so cool! And I got to meet so many cool Jellicles!" She whined. Her asking these questions wasn't because she didn't like her Mom and wanted it leave it, they were because she wanted to have fun with the new friend she had made. Being around the Jellicles had a special kind of aura, and other cats loved being friends with them. Everyone was constantly cheerful and fun-loving, and meeting them would make you want to stay there forever.

"I want to be a Jelicle," Maria suddenly meowed from tuggers arms.

Tugger and Mistoffelees exchanged quick glances.

"Well, that's something that your going to have to discuss with your mother," he told her. "My only job right noe it to make sure your clean!"

\--

The meeting spot had been planned ahead of time. Meeting in the alley where the kits had lived before would probabily be too hard for them,they didn't know where the new house was so they couldn't go find it, so they had decided to meet at a large, well-known park in the humans downtown area.

It was bustling, people walking around with food and shouting at each other and little human-kits awe-ing at the cats. They always tried to pet them, and while Tugger would occasionally let a few fingers brush him, Mistoffelees all but vanished whenever a human-kits reached towards him. The kits also avoided the humans, uncertain and scared.

"Where are we going?" Cleo asked. She had kept wandering off, and the crowed was too much, so Tugger had resorted to carrying her by the scruff. They couldn't take Jellicle forms here, as humans might get suspicious of a cat on two legs, so this would have to do.

Maria had, luckily, stuck close to Mistoffelees side, so his mouth was free to answer.

"To meet your mother, of course," he informed her.

"But, where is she? What's the place were going to?"

Mistoffelees shrugged. "I think its just a park. You can have fun and show her how you can catch your own food now."

Gasping, Cleo squirmed even more.

"Do you think that if she sees we can hunt then she will let us live with the Jellicles?" The little kit meowed, excited.

Mistoffelees shrugged the best he could. 

"Kit, I havnt even met your mother before. I have no idea what shes going to say."

The entrance to the park came into view, and Tugger spotted a tail curling around the wall. He smiled, and set down Cleo, spitting out fur just for dramatic effect.

"Guess who I think I see," he said with a smile. Cleo gasped, and Maria walked a bit faster so that she could be up as close.

A face stuck out from around the corner, familiar and bright as the figure saw the kittens. 

Said kittens just took off running, slamming into their mother with squeals of joy while the other two cats hung back.

"They seem happy," Mistoffelees said with a smile.

"They always are," Tugger replied.

\--

"Thank you so much for taking care of my kits," Brises meowed to Rum Tum Tugger. "They are so happy, and I know they're going to talk my ears off before they go to bed."

"Have they asked you about…" He paused, not wanting to say anything too loudly and get the kittens riled up again.

Bruises sighed, knowing exactly what he was talking about.

"I dont want to be a Jellicle, but as soon as those two are old enough, they can go and do whatever they want to do." She paused, thinking for a moment, before looking back at the younger tom. "What age to cats attend their first Jellicle Ball?"

\--

"Come on, come on!" Cleo, now able to stand fully on her hind legs,(because she wasnt a kitten now, duh!) Pulled Maria behind her. The other cat looked a bit nervous, but still followed. Her body language might have told everyone she was shy and nervous, but you could clearly see excitement in her eyes.

It had been a year since the two had met the Jellicles. A whole year! Despite basically being adults a few months ago, their mother had told them to just wait untill the Jellicle Ball to join. And, before they had gone, Uncle Tugger had shown up at the den with his brother, some fussy gray cat who looked  _ old, _ and they had cheated their the cats mom and had been all stuffy and shook paws and it was all so  _ unnecessary  _ but now they were going to the ball! They were going to dance, and meet new cats, and have so much fun!

Cleo moved through the bushes and everything, following what she was certain was the path Tugger had told her to take.

However, when she got to the other side of it, instead of Tugger, two identical cats sat there.

One of them looked up.

"Ah. We knew Tugger gave bad directions, but he insisted that you would come out somewhere over  _ there _ ." The cat who wasn't talking pointed across the clearing with his tail. 

There was no sign of Tugger, but other cats were busting around the clearing. An older ginger cat hung decorations, and another cat was having some kittens practice what must be their parts in the ball.

"Come," said the cat that hadn't talked before. "Jenny wants to get you fitted to be mice, and Munkustrap wants you to be fitted to be Poms, like most kits do for their first ball."

"What about Tugger?" Maria asked quietly. Unlike Cleo, she had stopped calling him 'uncle Tugger a few months ago, saying she was too grown up for it. "Shouldn't you tell him were here?"

"I will get a message to Mr Mistoffelees. He will tell The Rum Tum Tugger." Said one of the cats. Neither of the twins could tell which one had spoke.

"Now, come along." They both choruses. "We must get you ready for you first ball."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tuggers bad at directions change my mind  
> i might weite some oneshots w these two but other then that i will move on to toher aus!


End file.
